brotherly

C2+ Topic:Family & Relationships

US /ˈbrʌðɚli/ UK /ˈbrʌðəli/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
of or befitting a brother; affectionate and loyal

He gave the boy some brotherly advice about staying out of trouble.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · of or befitting a brother;... fraternal affectionate loyal kindly amicable comradely

Opposites

hostile unfriendly antagonistic

Word family

Derived forms brotherliness

Related forms brother brotherhood

Etymology

From Old English brōþorlīc, from brōþor ('brother') + -līc ('-ly'). Brother descends from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr.

brōþor Old English *bʰréh₂tēr Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Family & Relationships Word Formation & Derivatives

# brotherly

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ˈbrʌðɚli
**IPA (UK):** ˈbrʌðəli

## Meanings
1. of or befitting a brother; affectionate and loyal

## Examples
- He gave the boy some brotherly advice about staying out of trouble.

## Synonyms
- fraternal
- affectionate
- loyal
- kindly
- amicable
- comradely

## Antonyms
- hostile
- unfriendly
- antagonistic

## Derived Forms
- brotherliness

## Related Forms
- brother
- brotherhood

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: brōþor
- Root: *bʰréh₂tēr

## Etymology
From Old English brōþorlīc, from brōþor ('brother') + -līc ('-ly'). Brother descends from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr.

## AI Etymology
Brotherly comes from Old English brōþorlīc, from brōþor ('brother') + -līc ('-ly'). Brother descends from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr. The historical trail runs through brōþor in Old English and *bʰréh₂tēr in Proto-Indo-European. Morphologically, brotherly is transparent: it draws on Old English brōþorlīc, from brōþor ('brother') + -līc ('-ly'). Used as an adjective, brotherly now means "of or befitting a brother; affectionate and loyal", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as brotherliness and related forms such as brother and brotherhood. The modern word remains analyzable through its parts, which makes the semantic connection unusually direct.

## Topics
- Family & Relationships
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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brotherly

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